The Last Day
by Lyndotia
Summary: Oneshot, DH spoilers. On the last day of Severus and Lily's friendship, Lily has a chat with Severus on the grounds before their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.


Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: First off, **OotP/DH spoilers**, just in case you missed it in the summary. I don't really know why, but I got inspired to write this one night. I didn't type it out for a fanfic until a couple of weeks later, but it's here now. ;)

**The Last Day**

"Sev! Hey, Sev!"

Fifteen-year-old Severus Snape turned to see a pretty girl with dark red hair and stunningly bright green eyes jogging along the lawn after him. Lily Evans wore a smile with her Gryffindor robes as she caught up with her oldest friend in the magical world.

"Sev, are you trying to run off and ignore me?" she asked exasperatedly. "I've only been calling after you for five minutes, ever since you left the castle!"

"Of course I'm not trying to ignore you!" Severus said indignantly. _Who possibly could?_ he thought, but he didn't say that aloud. "Sorry, Lily," he apologized, looking down for a moment. "I guess I was just busy thinking about the O.W.L.s and didn't hear you."

"It's all right," Lily assured him, regaining her warm smile. "I know you wouldn't ignore me, Sev. We haven't talked much lately, though," she said, sounding nearly as regretful as Severus felt. "We used to talk all the time. Not as much as we did before Hogwarts, but I guess that's to be expected.. you know, with schoolwork and everything."

She paused there, They both knew that 'everything,' in this case, was a very loaded word. It spoke of the rivalry between Gryffindor House and Slytherin; of Lily's dislike of Severus's chosen friends; of Severus's ongoing battle of wits and jinxes against James Potter, a boy from Lily's House; and especially of the growing rift between Severus and Lily that was Severus's fascination with the Dark Arts.

"So," Lily went on as if no time had passed at all -- and Severus realized that it actually hadn't, and wondered at how quickly the human mind could move through a series of thoughts, "I thought I would try to catch you when I saw you leave the castle. I almost didn't, you know, with you running off, all lost in thought."

"I said I was sorry," Severus mumbled, kicking a rock and still refusing to look at Lily.

"I know, Sev. I was just teasing."

Severus finally looked up, his black eyes meeting Lily's green ones. There was something halfway between hope and dread in his as he asked, "You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" It was Lily's turn to sound indignant. "You're my _friend_, Sev. You think I'm gonna be angry at you just because you didn't hear me calling for you?"

"Maybe."

Lily suddenly grinned, and Severus stared at her. "What's so funny?" he asked, a little defensively.

"Nothing. It's not really _funny_, exactly. It was just.. for a second, you just reminded me of the little Severus Snape who first told me that I was a witch. It was really sweet, Sev."

Severus blinked, and color rushed to his pallid face. "I -- what?"

Lily's grin broadened. "It's true! You sounded just like you used to when we were little, just then."

"Er.. is that a good thing?"

Lily seemed to think about this. "Yeah, I think so," she said at last. "Maybe it means that, after our O.W.L.s are over, we can be best friends again like we were when we were little."

This seemed to hearten Severus. "You really think so?"

"Mm.. yeah. Just so long as you don't go acting like your friends and jinxing everyone you meet, okay?"

"Of course not! Have I ever done anything like that, Lily?"

"Well..."

"James Potter _doesn't_ count! You know as well as I do that if I don't jinx him, he'll jinx me."

"I know he's a bullying toerag, but that doesn't mean that you have to do the same thing that he does."

"I _don't_ do the same thing he does! He thinks he's the greatest thing since Self-Stirring Cauldrons, running around with his friends like they own the place..."

"I wouldn't call them friends, exactly. They're more like cronies, I think. Maybe you could call Black his friend, but Pettigrew?"

"What does it matter?" Severus asked darkly, kicking another rock. "Potter's just a.. a..."

"A bullying toerag, haven't I told you before?"

Severus looked back at Lily; she was grinning. After hearing her say that, and seeing her smile, he couldn't help it; he had to grin, too.

"Don't forget arrogant."

Lily laughed, and Severus stood and let the sound of it wash over him. Lily's laugh had to be one of his favorite sounds in the world.

"Oh, all right," Lily said, grinning. "He's an _arrogant_, bullying toerag, then. Is that better?"

"Much."

"All right, then."

Lily grinned, and Severus tried his best to smile instead of smirk. He must have succeeded, because Lily didn't say anything about it.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts is next, right?" Lily asked.

"Yes. In twenty minutes, actually."

Lily groaned. "I can't wait until these tests are over and done with."

"You and me both."

"But you're great at them!" Lily objected. "You look like you could sit and write on those subjects all day. I hate having to sit still and write for that long. My hand cramps on my quill."

"It helps if you stretch your hand every few lines."

"Hm. Maybe I should try that."

"It makes it easier to write more, and if you write more, you have a better chance of getting a good score."

"Oh, please! You'll get a good score if you stop halfway through the time limit!"

Severus smiled, but his face flushed, just the same. "That's not true, and you know it. You're every bit as good at Defense Against the Dark Arts as I am."

"No one's as good as you at Potions, though."

"No one except you."

Now it was Lily's turn to blush, but her face became nearly as bright as her hair. "Oh, quit it, Severus!"

"It's true..."

"Oh, whatever!" She paused for a moment, and then seemed to remember at last what she had ran after Severus for. "It's almost time for the O.W.L., but how about we meet later and talk about it? I know you like to look it over after you finish. So, when you finish, will you meet me by the lake?"

"Of course."

"Oh, good!" And, much to Severus's surprise, Lily hugged him before hurrying off toward the castle. He shook his head and smiled before starting off after her. The O.W.L. would go a lot faster, knowing he had something to look forward to after it.


End file.
